April Wrap Up

Read:
The Awkward Squad by Sophie Henaff
The Oracle Year by Charles Soule
Somebody’s Daughter by Rochelle B. Weinstein
The Ice Swimmer by Kjell Ola Dahl
Neuromancer by William Gibson
A Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny
The Broken Girls by Simone St. James
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Penance by Kanae Minato
The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy

Stats:
10 books
3,081 pages

Whew! Can you believe I read 10 books this month? Yeah, me either! I’m going to say page counts for the books allowed me to squeeze in more than usual, plus a few days of vacation gave me more time to read.

This month I accomplished a major feat and big time stepped out of my comfort zone with three science fictions reads! First up was THE ORACLE YEAR by Charles Soule, which focused on the story of a man who wakes up with 108 predictions about what will happen in the world and the repercussions associated with having this knowledge. Next was NEUROMANCER, which is a classic science fiction read following a group of rag-tag cyber criminals and the job that brings them together. Saving the best for last was definitely DARK MATTER. This book surpassed all of my expectations and managed to combine the thriller I love with a science fiction element that I could get my mind around. This book left me wanting to read more like it, so please send recommendations!

This month I also expanded by translated crime fiction reads with some new to be authors. I kicked off the month reading THE AWKWARD SQUAD by Sophie Henaff, which is a work of French crime fiction about a misfit group of police officers sent to work in a division meant to keep them off the radar. THE ICE SWIMMER by one of the most well known Scandinavian crime authors, Kjell Ola Dahl, came by way for a blog tour by Orenda. Last year I started branching in to the Nordic Noir genre and fell hard, so it was an absolute joy to be back at it and with such a well respected author. At the end of the month I gave Japanese crime fiction by first go with PENANCE and walked away with plans to read CONFESSIONS by Minato this summer. I can always count on Instagram’s Criminally Good Book Club to keep extending by TBR!

Book clubs played a major role in this month’s reading. PENANCE, mentioned above, was an absolute winner, as were the other two selections I participated in reading this month! I got back in to the groove with #pennypushers on Goodreads with the 8th installment of Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache series with THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY. This book left me with a major cliffhanger and a broken heart. I’m anxious to see where things head in book nine. THE BROKEN GIRLS was this month’s pick for Instagram’s Black Heart Reads and I was over the moon in love with this one! I snagged my copy from Book of the Month forever ago and patiently waited until I could read it with the group. There’s something about reading a book with multiple people that amplifies the experience. I can’t wait to chat later this week with the group about this one!

Finally, rounding out the month of reads were two fantastic new releases, SOMEBODY’S DAUGHTER and THE PERFECT MOTHER. When my Nerdy by Nature book club ladies mentioned reading literary fiction I was a bit worried, but after reading the synopsis for SOMEBODY’S DAUGHTER I put my big girl pants on and stepped outside of my neat, gory, crime fiction loving bubble. This was such a timely read and though I don’t have kids, the real impacts of social media are something I find fascinating. Lastly, out tomorrow is the fantastic THE PERFECT MOTHER! This book is fantastic for those looking for a lighter thriller along the lines of Liane Moriarty’s BIG LITTLE LIES. Such an addictive and engrossing read!